The Glee Club and the Doctor
by Sparky Young Upstart
Summary: The members of New Directions have three things in common. 1: They all have a passion for music. 2: They love each other like a family. 3: At some point in their lives, they have all come across a mysterious man in a flying blue box. Some of them met him as children, some only recently. Some met him alone, others with friends. Takes place between "Dance with Somebody" and "Choke".
1. Something in the Rain I

Sam was the only person present when Finn entered the room one day. Both of them had showed up early for glee rehearsal, so it would be a few minutes yet until the others showed up. Everybody was getting pumped for Nationals, and Rachel and Kurt were especially excited because of their upcoming NYADA auditions.

Sam didn't look up, instead focusing his attention on a fist-sized purple gemstone. Finn silently sat down beside him.

"What have you got there?" he asked. Sam jumped in surprise.

"Oh, it's just a...trinket I carry around with me."

"You were staring at it pretty intently."

"Yeah, well...it's important to me."

Finn nodded, his gaze shifting to the stone. It seemed to have a kind of light inside of it, and Finn swore he saw images. In fact, it looked like...

"Whoa, I think I can see my house inside of that rock." Finn said in surprise. Sam instantly stiffened, then stuffed the stone away.

"I knew I shouldn't have pulled this out in school." Sam looked very on edge. "Can you just, like, forget what you saw?"

Finn was confused, but intrigued. "Wait, are you saying that I was actually seeing my house inside of that thing? What is it?"

"It's...complicated. I don't want to draw attention to it, though."

"Hey, I may not be too bright, but I've seen my fair share of weird stuff." Finn said.

Sam didn't look too convinced. "I'm serious. This rock is far beyond human understanding. The man who gave it to me told me it was incredibly rare."

"Well where did that man get it from?"

Sam shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"Okay...there's this man...called the Doctor."

Finn's eyes went wide with realization. "You've met the Doctor?"

And Sam was just as surprised.

Both were even more surprised when they saw Santana standing in the doorway.

"Hold up. How do you two know about the Doctor?"

The three stayed perfectly still, nobody making a move or saying a word. Finally Sam broke the silence.

"Last summer, just after my family had moved into Kentucky. There was an alien in town, and I helped the Doctor go after it."

Finn and Santana nodded. "Did you get to go into space?" she asked him. Sam smiled.

"Yeah. We had to chase it to a mine inside Pluto."

Finn pouted. "I never got to go into space. When I met him we stayed in my house all day."

* * *

"Finn!" Carole Hudson called. "I have to work late tonight, so you might be in bed by the time I get home!"

Finn's mother came over and ruffled his hair, kissed him on the forehead, then left. Finn stayed where he was, staring out the window. The rain pounded on the glass, and everything he could see was completely drenched. He watched his mom's car drive away, splashing through huge puddles. Finn sighed and kept staring. Tiny rivulets ran down the window in front of him. But something was...off about them. Finn didn't know very much about physics, but he was pretty sure that raindrops don't run up window. Yet they were doing just that, right in front of his face. Up, and down, and sideways and in little circles. The only constant factor in their movements was that they seemed to be converging in the center of the window. A puddle was forming vertically on the pane. Finn looked closer, trying to see if there was any way he could make sense of it.

And then the puddle morphed into a terrifying, fanged face. Two-dimensional on the glass, with hollow dry spots to represent it's eyes and mouth. Finn cried out and tripped over his own feet as he backed away. When he looked up, the face was gone.

Convinced he was just imaging it, he ran off to watch cartoons.

An hour later, Finn hadn't moved form his spot on the couch. This could easily be passed off as him just being lazy, because let's face it - at 12 years old, Finn didn't have much in the way of ambition. But this time it was something else. Fear.

Finn nervously looked at a window. He had specifically chosen to watch TV in this exact spot because it was far away from the windows. As he watched the window, he was certain that something was looking back. His suspicions were confirmed when the water sitting on the window briefly took the shape of an eye. Finn gulped.

Something was in the rain.

And it wasn't just the shapes that he kept seeing in the windows. There was a tapping. Like somebody or something was trying to get his attention. The sounded would be lost in the pitter-patter of the raindrops, but Finn had been listening to it all day and could easily distinguish it from the other noises.

*tap tap tap*

Finn pulled the blanket closer to him.

*tap tap tap*

He turned up the volume on the TV, trying to focus on the cartoons.

*tap tap tap*

He looked at the clock. 2 PM. His mom wouldn't be home for several hours.

*vwoorp vwoorp vwoorp*

That was not a tapping noise. Finn turned his head in the direction of the sound. it was coming from the kitchen. Slowly he got up, being careful not to go near the windows. For now, though, the tapping and the faces had stopped. Perhaps the other noise had scared off whatever was watching him.

Carefully, young Finn peaked around the corner and looked in the kitchen. There was something there, but it didn't look sinister. Just...odd.

A big blue box, with "police box" written on it in white letters. It was a completely foreign object to Finn, but at least it looked human. And the police were good guys, right?

Finn edged himself over to the doors of the box, step by step. Eventually he was standing in front of the doors. Taking a deep breath, he held up his hand and knocked on the door.

He had barely knocked once before the door flew open. Standing in front of him was a man. He didn't look like a policeman, but Finn had scene cop shows on TV and knew that sometimes they wore casual clothes. Still, this man was dressed odd - a tweed jacket, suspenders, and a bow tie. _Who the heck wears bow ties these days?_ Finn thought.

"Ah, finally some service! I would like to order your finest steak with a side of Silurian salad. To drink I would like...has Chai Tea flavored Pepsi been invented yet, or am I too early?"

Finn could do nothing but blink. Did this guy thin he was in a restaurant? He said the only thing he could think of.

"Um...I think you have the wrong address."

The man looked at him quizzically, then looked around. "Ah. it would appear that you're correct. I was trying to get to Almiar. Did you know that they've been voted the best fine dining establishment in this arm of the Milky Way for 300 years in a row? Not human years of course, The planet has an orbit three times shorter than Earth's. Is that where I am? Earth?"

"Yeah. Lima Ohio." Finn paused, then added for good measure. "USA."

"Well, at least I got the "kitchen" part right." He walked over to the calendar. "And the year too, technically, though it doesn't help much when I'm over a billion miles from my destination."

"Um, Mr, I don't mean to be rude, but mom says I'm not allowed to let strangers into the house when she's out."

The man opened the fridge and examined it's contents. "Well then I guess you're a good lad, considering that you didn't let me into your house. I let myself in. COmpletely by accident, of course, but still it's no fault of your own." He spun around and was now holding an orange in his hands. He began to peel it. "Mother's out, eh? That's always fun. You get to laze around the house, eat all the candy, watch telly, try on her clothes."

"I don't try on my mother's clothes."

"And you shouldn't! It;s important to respect her privacy." the man then shoved the orange pee into his mouth, made a face, and spat it into the sink. Finn laughed.

"Bleurgh! I tihnk you're oranges have gone."

"You ate the peel!"

The doctor examined the fruit in his hand, then the orange mess in the sink. "My word, what a brilliant young lad you are! I'm sure al your teachers are impressed."

Finn's face fell. "No...I'm not that smart. I do okay in classes, nothing special."

The man shrugged. "Well you've got a long life ahead of you. Perhaps you'll do better in High School. Now then! Let's have a look around and see what there is to do."

The man exited the kitchen and went into the living room. Finn didn't really have any other choice but to follow.

"Let me see, we've got a telly with some Spongebob on, some action figures over there on the stares, a drum set in the corner -"

"Mom says I'm not allowed to play it because it's too loud and upsets the neighbors."

"Ugh, neighbors, they always but a dampener on your fun. Sometimes literally. I once had to live beside a Fernamian that made a habit of spraying me with his gardening hose whenever he saw me."

"What's a -" Finn couldn't finish before the man pressed his hand against his mouth and held up a hand in silence.

"Do you hear that?"

Finn nodded. The tapping was back.

"Is that normal?"

Finn shook his head, then moved the other man's hand. "But it's been happening all day. And there are faces on the window."

"Faces in the window?"

"No. On the window. They're made of rain."

The man nodded. "Interesting." He then proceeded to walk over to the windows, and tapped on it. Water pooled around where his knuckles had hit, and then another fearsome face flashed before dissolving back into water.

"What's your name boy?"

"Finn. Finn Hudson."

"Nice to meet you Finn Hudson, I'm the Doctor. And I think you have aliens in your rain.


	2. Something in the Rain II

"Aliens? But aliens aren't supposed to be real!"

The doctor stood up and began examining the other windows. Each time he did a face would appear. "Well they do, and I should know since I happen to be one."

"Where's your spaceship?"

"Parked in your kitchen. Sorry about that."

Finn looked confused, then peaked back in his kitchen. The big blue box still stood there.

"That's a spaceship? Lame."

The Doctor spun around, offended. "Excuse me. I'll have you know that my TARDIS is not "lame". It is the most un-lame device ever created."

"It looks like a telephone box."

"Well, yes, that's because it's broken. I keep forgetting to fix that!" The tapping noise continued, louder this time. "Alright Finn, let's simply cut to the chase. Why are they tapping?"

"I dunno. They're aliens."

"Well lots of aliens tap on things. I tap. Sontarans tap. Daleks...well, they have the capability to tap. Think Finn. Why would you tap on the window?"

"To get somebody's attention?"

"Right! But they've got our attention. Haven't you lot?" The Doctor called. The two waited for just a moment before faces appeared in all the windows. Even Finn could figure out the answer: yes.

"So! Why else does somebody tap?"

"They...um..." Finn screwed his face up as he thought about it. "They...want to be let inside?"

"Yes! Good idea. So we should probably do that." The Doctor rushed over to the door. Finn realized what eh was about to do and ran passed him, standing in front of the door.

"You can't just open the door and let aliens in!"

"Well that's what they want. Besides, they don't seem angry."

"But they made scary faces!"

"Well I can make a scary face too. Watch!" The doctor stuck out his tongue and crossed his eyes. Finn sighed.

"Mom said that I can't let any strangers in. I'm already going to be in trouble if she finds you here. What will she think when she sees rain aliens?"

"Come now Finn, if they're dangerous then we can handle them. You're a strapping young lad of, what, 15?"

"I'm 12."

"12? Blimey you're tall. Is your mother a giraffe?" The Doctor went up to Finn and looked out the peephole. Not that there was anything to be see, just rain and water.

"Look, we'll only open the door a little bit. That way if they turn out to be dangerous or angry we can slam it closed again. Alright?"

Finn considered it for a moment. "Alright."

"Goody. Now then," The Doctor gripped the door handle and opened the door about half a foot wide. Finn had pressed himself against the wall on the other side of the door, and carefully peeked out through the frame. There wasn't anything there as far as he could tell. In fact, he couldn't even see the rain. The Doctor also peeked his head around the door.

"See anything?"

"No."

The Doctor opened the door wider, and after a moment all the way. Finn stood by his side.

"Maybe they didn't -"

Finn was cut off when a monstrous head dropped down from above the doorway. It looked like a dinosaur, but was completely composed of water. When it roared, all that came out was a gurgling, bubbling sound. Finn and the Doctor both screamed, and the doctor slammed the door.

The creature was faster, able to get part of it's head in before being cut off by the doorway. An arm and part of a jaw hung suspended in the air for a brief moment before losing form and splashing to the ground. Finn looked in shock.

"I told you they were scary aliens!"

"Well how was I supposed to knwo they would do that! I've never fought water before! Well, once before, but that was Martian water. I would like to imagine there's a difference." Something dawned on the Doctor's face, and he pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver, pointed it at Finn, and waved it at him a few times.

"What are you doing?"

"Making sure you're not a zombie."

Finn's eyes went wide with fear. "A z-zombie?"

The Doctor checked the read out on the screwdriver. "Nope, not a zombie. Good thing too. I was afraid the Flood were here."

Hearing this, Finn instantly perked up. "Flood? Like in Halo?"

"No. Different Flood. I never understood why they called those Flood Flood anyways. They don't look like water. The actual Flood are actual water. Well, in a manner of speaking." The Doctor tapped his screwdriver against his chin. "So, no flood, and nothing wrong with you, so it's not a viral creature. Hrm."

The Doctor turned and was about to point his screwdriver at the ground when he noticed something. "Finn, what happened to that puddle of water from before?"

Finn looked down at the ground, then around the rest of the foyer. "Uh...I don't know...maybe it dried up?"

"I don't think this is the kind of water that dries up."

A drop of water fell on the ground where they were looking. The two of them slowly raised there eyes, met each other's gaze, then continued to go up. Above them, impossibly suspended from the ceiling, was the puddle of water.

Spread out, it was about the size of a pizza, or at least that was the closest size estimate Finn could imagine. The water stood there, quivering slightly, before dropping onto the ground and reshaping itself into a vaguely quadrupedal form. And then it lunged at the Doctor.

The force of the blow knocked the Doctor over, and he cried out in surprise. "Get off me you...you...mutt?" he said as he struggled with the alien. He tried to pushed it off but his hands kept on plunging into the water instead of forcing the creature away. "Finn! A little help?"

Finn tried to grab or kick the creature, but all that happened was his arms and legs splashing through its body. Oddly enough, his hands and feet didn't get wet. "Wait right here!" he said before running into the kitchen.

"Wasn't planning on moving!" The Doctor frantically replied. The water creature was slowly trying to move toward his face, and the Doctor realized that it intended to drown him. All he could do was wriggle backwards, but the creature kept on writhing and shifting its form to get at him.

In the kitchen, Finn had his head under the sink and was digging through the bottles of cleaning supplies and rags, desperately searching for - aha! The big sponge that his mom used when there were really big spills. He grabbed on to it tightly and ran back to the living room. What he found was the doctor with half of a rain alien stuffed down his throat, trying to close his mouth on it while it tried to pull his fingers away from his nostrils with aquatic tendrils. Finn didn't waste any time slamming the sponge onto the Doctors face. It worked just as he had hoped - the creature got dragged into the sponge just like regular water.

The Doctor lay for a few moments panting, before looking up at Finn. "Well. That was unexpected." He slowly and shakily got up to his feet and straightened out his clothes. "Right, let's see here. I'm not damp." He patted himself where the rain creature had been. "That's definitely odd."

Finn just stared at the Doctor, then at the sponge. "This is all really weird."

The Doctor took the sponge from Finn. "Well it's a weird universe, you see. Lot's of weird things wriggling about in nooks and crannies and waiting for somebody to step on them on suck them into a sponge. Alright my watery chap, let's see what's up with you?" The Doctor held the sponge aloft, and pointed the screwdriver at it. After a brief moment he checked the readout. "Huh."

"What? What's 'huh'?"

"Huh, as in 'huh, that's odd.' This appears to be regular water."

Finn looked at the Doctor in confusion. "But you said it was alien water!"

"Well I guess I was wrong."

"But normal water doesn't run upwards or turn into dinosaurs or try to drown people!"

"Well I know that! Now shush, I'm trying to think." The Doctor looked at the sponge quizzically, and the sponge smacked him in the face.

He dropped it in surprise. As soon as it was on the floor the sponge began to wriggle around on the ground. Finn cried out in surprise.

"It's moving! It's still moving!"

"It punched me!"

"Doctor, do something!"

"I've just been punched by a sponge!"

"Doctor!"

"Alright, fine." The Doctor chased after the sponge. It was surprisingly difficult; the cleaning item was rather agile, twisting and turning out of the man's reach. It was headed towards the door, that much was certain, but before it could reach it the Doctor managed to grab a hold of it again. It continued to struggle, and the time lord nearly lost it several times.

"Okay Finn, you need to open the freezer for me!"

"Why? What's in the freezer?"

The Doctor just levelled a frustrated look at Finn. "Really Finn? Really?"

Finn paused for a moment before he managed to connect the dots. "Oh! Right!" he ran to the kitchen and opened the freezer door, and the Doctor followed soon after and chucked the sponge into the appliance before slamming the door closed.

"There. Now we can -"

There was a loud smacking on the freezer door, and the Doctor and Finn immediately braced themselves against it. The sound continued, becoming louder and...harder. Eventually there was one last loud thud before they stopped.

"Is it...frozen?"

"I should think so yes. But now we have to focus on a more important issue."

"What's that?"

"It knows what doors are for now."

*TAP TAP TAP*


	3. Something in the Rain III

"So. Aliens made of rain that want to be let inside so that they can drown us. But why?"

"Because they're evil?"

The Doctor levelled his gaze at Finn. "Trust me Finn. I know evil. I've stared evil in the eye more times than you can imagine. This creature, whatever it is and whatever it wants, is not evil."

"Well it's trying to kill us. Sounds evil."

"It also sounds confused, or scared, or angry." The Doctor tapped the screwdriver on his chin. "Yes, definitely angry...but at what?"

Finn sighed and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs. "This is way too confusing. I just wanted to watch cartoons. I didn't want aliens attacking me."

"But it didn't attack you." The doctor said. "It went right for me. Which means...it wants you, Finn!"

Finn looked at the Doctor with terror. "What? WHY?"

But the Doctor was already sonicing Finn again. "You're a regular human, too. Maybe it's an emotional connection. Or perhaps...Finn, have you done anything weird lately?"

"Well I was stalked by a water alien..."

"No, before that. Received weird phone calls? Made a new friend? Picked up a blinking beeping device?"

"Uh...I got a new rock for my rock collection?"

"Well I've never heard of water wanting a rock, but it could be wroth a shot. Were's the collection?"

"Up in my room."

The two of them got up and left the kitchen, but as they entered the living room the door burst open and a column of water burst into the house. Finn screamed in fear as the entity rushed towards him, but the Doctor jumped in front.

"Stop! You don't need to hurt us!"

The column stopped, but did form a menacing, toothy snarl out of the water.

"I'm not stopping you from anything, and Finn can lead you to wear the rock is. Do you want the rock?"

The water being paused, then nodded. Finn resumed breathing, and cast a sideways glance at the Doctor.

"Go on then. Show us the rock, Finn."

Slowly, the bizarre trio ascended to Finn's room. He opened the door and went to his shelf, picking up the rock. It didn't seem very special. it was oblong and dull green, sort of potato-shaped. As soon as Finn picked it up, the water being rushed up and grabbed the rock, pulling it inside itself.

"Hey!" Finn shouted in protest, but the Doctor laid a hand on his shoulder.

"No, I think the rock belongs to him."

"But why does it want a regular old rock?"

"Well obviously it's not regular." The Doctor soniced the water and the rock, checking the readout. "Ah. The alien isn't _in_ the water, it's _controlling_ it."

"Huh?"

"It must have crashed on Earth millions of years ago, and the water it controlled was dispersed all over the area. It couldn't control any other molecules but those it had originally, and so it had to spend millenia trying to reform itself with it's conscious split across hundreds of miles."

"That sounds kind of sad."

"It is sad. All that time must have driven it mad. But now it managed to reform itself, and now all it wants is a way home. Look."

Finn did look, and was surprised at what he saw. The alien was breaking chunks of the rock off, and he could see a metallic object within. Soon enough it was completely uncovered. The creature released this object and poked and prodded it with tendrils, causing it to come to life with yellow and green lights. The object then opened up and projected some kind of green energy. To Finn it looked a bit like a door, and that's essentially what it was. He could see more lights and walls beyond the field.

"So...is that his spaceship?"

"Yes. Astounding...a pocket dimension that small." The Doctor then smirked. "Very rudimentary, of course."

The water creature examined the doorway, and began to go through, but then stopped and turned to Finn and the Doctor. Finn was unsure, but then had one of those moments of brilliance that would eventually become more common for him when he reached high school. He ran out the door, and returned in a few minutes with the sponge.

"Here!" he said, and tossed the sponge over. It landed beside the water with a thud, but soon a pool of water managed to leak out and merge with the larger entity. The alien made sure it was whole again, and without a word (not that it could speak very well anyways), it entered the doorway. The field disappeared, and the tiny spaceship began to levitate in the air before letting of a bright flash. Finn and Doctor shielded their eyes, and when they could open them the ship was gone.

"Did he go home?"

"I imagine so."

A few minutes later, Finn and the Doctor were sitting on the couch, eating cookies and watching Spongebob.

"Hey Doctor. Thanks for, you know, getting rid of the creepy alien rain thing."

"Don't worry. Still, maybe I should be going." The Doctor got up. Finn did too.

"Wait, you're leaving?"

"I have a lot of universe to see, Finn."

"Aw man. But you're cooler than all my other friends!"

The Doctor smiled and ruffled Finn's hair.

"Maybe now. But you just wait a few years. Trust me."

Finn was disappointed in seeing the Doctor leave, but in all honest the did trust the Doctor. "Okay. But...if anything freaky happens, will I see you again?"

"Oh, I can guarantee it. I love freaky stuff."

The two walked to the kitchen, and the Doctor opened the TARDIS door. Finn glimpsed inside and for a moment he swore that he saw an entire room behind those doors, impossible as it may be.

"So long, Finn Hudson."

"Bye Doctor!"

Finn waved as the Doctor closed the door and the TARDIS faded away.

* * *

"...and that was the last I saw of him." Finn said to Sam and Santana. They had listened to his story with rapt attention, smiling at the things he said about the Doctor that they recognized from their own experiences.

"Pretty boss story, Hudson. Mine's better though." Santana said with a smirk. Before she could begin, however, there was a knock on the door. Moving aside, the three students were surprised to see Kurt and Blaine poke their heads in.

"Um...hi guys." Kurt said tentatively.

"Hey." Finn said. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well we originally came for glee practice," Blaine said. "But...then we heard you guys talking about the Doctor."

Santana rolled her eyes. "Oh you've got to be kidding me. Don't tell em you two met him too?"

"Actually..." Kurt and Blaine opened the door wider to reveal the rest of the club standing outside the choir room. Sam, Santana, and Finn were quite certain that Finn's story had been heard by all of them.

"We all do." Kurt said with a small shrug.


	4. The Boogeyman I

"Alright," Kurt started. "If we're all sharing them, then who's going next?"

Rachel immediately stood up, and the rest of the group was not surprised at all.

"Clearly it should be me. I mean, the rest of the club's stories are fun I'm sure, but surely not nearly as exciting as mine."

Puck rolled his eyes. "Rachel, no offense, but the excitement level is kind of hard to determine when there's time travel involved."

Rachel pouted and turned to Finn. "But...but...well, then we should go by seniority of members, which means I still go next."

Finn looked at Sam and Santana. "Uh...actually, I think Sam should go next. I mean, he was the first one to reveal he met the doctor, and he's got a souvenir."

Rachel was fuming at this point. "I'm sure Sam has a lovely tale to tell. Fine, we'll put it to a vote. Everybody who wants to hear Sam's story -"

The entire room raised their hands, including Finn. Rachel scowled at him, but relented nonetheless. As she sat down beside him she gave him a look that told him he'd be paying for this later. Sam stood up and went to the center of the room.

"Alright, so I met the Doctor over the summer when I was living in Kentucky..."

* * *

Life had been difficult for the Evans family, but it seemed to finally be turning around. Mr. Evans had gotten a job that paid well enough for food and living expenses. The family had begun renting a house while they tried to find a place of their own, and though they doubted that they'd be stable for at least another year they never told Stevie and Stacy about this. The two kids were almost oblivious to the situation anyways - sure they knew that the family didn't have as much money as before, but they were back in a house instead of a motel so obviously everything was better, right?

The fact that his siblings were smiling again was enough for Sam anyways. He held their hands as he walked down the street from their house, making sure that they wouldn't run off. He had gotten the day off from the club, and was taking advantage of it by spending it with his brother and sister. The twins were overjoyed at the prospect of being with their big brother.

"Are we going to the park Sammy?" Stevie asked.

Sam smiled. "We sure are buddy!"

"Yaaaaaaaay!" cried Stacy. "I'm gonna play on the monkey bars and this time I'm gonna make it all the way across!" She tried to pull ahead, but Sam held her tight.

"Whoa there, Stacy! You need to stick by me so you don't get lost."

Stacy pouted. "Aw, but I wanna get to the park faster."

"I know, but we need to stick together. That's what families do."

Stevie smirked. "You'll never let go, will you Sammy?"

"Of course not!" The big brother grinned. "I'll always be there for you guys."

Fortunately for the children, they reached the playground a few minutes later. Now that they were among multiple other watchful parents and older siblings, Sam felt comfortable letting go of their hand and letting them fly to the play structure. Stevie joined the other boys underneath the structure (nearly smacking his head into a metal bar on the way there), while Stacy began to climb on the monkey bars like she had promised. She made it halfway across before slipping and falling onto the ground, but she didn't cry or make a face, instead running back to the start and trying again.

All around were watchful eyes ensuring that nobody's ward wandered too far off or got hurt. A child would try to run towards a passing car or bird, but the nearby adults would spot them and direct them back towards the playground. Sam couldn't help but be proud of the small community that he lived in. There were a lot of young families here and, while he didn't know all of them, he knew they were all good people. He was sure there were less children here than usual, but put that off as other kids being busy at home or daycare.

There was one man, however, that seemed out of place. Maybe it was the curious look he wore on his face. Maybe it was his long trench coat and hair that stuck up in the front similar to Finn's. But Sam had noticed him because, as far as he could tell, he wasn't there with a child to look after. The kids had run back to their parents every few minutes to talk or get a snack or whatever. Even Stevie had come over to tell Sam to watch him run up the slide. None of the kids had gone up to this man.

Yet he didn't seem like...like a predator or anything. If anything this man seemed to be just as concerned about the children as the rest of the parents. Suddenly, Stacy and Stevie ran past the man. Stacy tripped and collapsed into the gravel. Even from this distance he could see her begin to tear up. Sam instantly went stiff and began making his way towards the two of them. The men bent over and was talking to his sister.

"...worry about it" he was saying. His accent was foreign - British, probably. "Everybody falls over. Now let's see." Stacy sniffled and showed the man her skinned knee. The man made a face. "Oh, now that's not too bad." At this point Sam had managed to reach the duo.

"Excuse me, sir, that's my sister you're talking to." The man turned at Sam's voice, which was stern on the point of a threat.

"Oh! Well, don't worry about us. She just fell don't, but it's just a scratch. Trust me. I'm the Doctor."

"You're a doctor?" the girl asked. The British doctor nodded. "Does that mean you can fix me?"

"Certainly!" the man exclaimed. He pulled out a metal doohickey from his pocket that glowed a bit on the end. Sam watched as the doctor waved the device around Stacy's knee, making a weird, alien buzzing noise. "Alright, does it hurt anymore?"

Stacy smiled and shook her head, then ran back off to play. The doctor stood back up and turned to Sam.

"Sorry about that. I'm sure you'd rather do your duty as big brother and help her than allow some stranger to do it."

Sam shrugged. "I don't mind. I just wanted to make sure she was okay. You're not here with anybody, so I'm sure you can imagine how that looks."

The doctor nodded knowingly. "Ah, yes. Well I am here with somebody, she's just of fetching some refreshments at the snack bar over there. I'm actually here as part of an investigation."

Sam turned to the other man in confusion. "I thought you said you were a doctor."

"No, I'm _the_ Doctor. But there's something strange going on in this neighborhood. Tell me, Mr..."

"Evans. Sam Evans."

"Tell me Sam," the Doctor gestured towards the playground "have you observed a decrease in children here since previously?"

Sam was surprised that the Doctor had noticed the same thing that he had. "I...uh...well, yeah but it's not that strange, is it?"

The Doctor frowned. "Sometimes strange things make perfect sense. Sometimes perfectly sensible things are actually quite strange. You make sure that you keep an eye on your siblings, Sam. Keep them safe."

At this point it was getting too weird for Sam. "Thanks for the, uh, advice." Without another word, Sam went to collect the twins. They complained as he walked them home, but Sam told them that they could have ice cream when they got there and that was enough to lift their spirits back up.

When they walked through the door, Sam's mother was going through the paper looking at the 'help wanted' ads. She hadn't been as lucky as his father in finding a new job, but she never gave up hope.

"Hey you three. I though you were spending the day at the park?"

"We changed our minds" said Sam as he went to the freezer and scooped up some ice cream for the two kids. Once they were taken care of he went closer to his mom and said quietly so only she could hear, "There was a really weird guy at the park. I didn't feel comfortable staying there."

Mrs. Evans turned in surprise. "Should we call somebody? Police? Neighborhood watch?"

Sam shook his head. "I don't think it's that bad a situation. Just instinct is all."

His mom pursed her lips. "Well, you were looking out for them. You're a good big brother."

"Thanks," he replied, wrapping his arms around her in a hug. "You're a pretty good mom, too."

Later that night, Sam helped the twins get ready for bed. "Goodnight you two" he said as he began closing the door.

"Sammy, wait!" Stevie called. Sam stopped and came back in. "You have to close the closet so that the boogeyman doesn't get us!"

Sam smiled and sat on the edge of Stevie's bed. "There's no such thing as the Boogeyman" he said. Stacy poked her head out from under her covers.

"Yeah Stevie, you're just a big baby." She stuck her tongue out at him to further taunt her brother. Stevie would have none of it.

"No, he's real! I heard him last night! He said he was going to take me and Stacy and make us his slaves!"

Sam sighed and ruffled Stevie's hair. "He's not going to do anything like that. But, if it makes you feel better, I'll close the door." He got up and shut it tight, even tugging on it a few times to show that it was sealed. Satisfied, Stevie lay back down and was soon asleep.

* * *

Around midnight, Sam was awoken by the sounds of screaming.

He didn't even bother to see what time it was. He was instantly awake and racing down the hall towards his siblings' room. He threw open the door and was greeted by a sight he had had nightmares about before. The beds were empty. The sheets had been strewn about the room. Stevie and Stacy were nowhere to be seen.

But what made Sam's blood run cold was the closet door flung wide open.


	5. The Boogeyman II

Sam didn't have time to consider that the Boogeyman was more than just a myth. He had to alert the authorities, get a search party going. He had to alert his parents. Quickly turning and racing down the hallway, he burst into his parents' room and began to rouse them from their sleep. "Mom! Dad! Wake up!" Sam kept shaking them until finally their eyes opened.

"Sam? What's wrong?" his dad mumbled. Sam grabbed his arm and pulled him out of bed.

"It's Stevie and Stacy! They're gone! Somebody took them!" Sam pulled his dad to his siblings' room and pointed inside. "They're gone! We need to call the cops or something!"

"Sam, what are you going on about?" His dad looked angry rather than scared for his youngest children. "Who're Stevie and Stacy?"

Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing. "They're your _kids_ dad."

At this point his mom had joined them. "What's going on you two?"

Mr. Evans shrugged. "I don't know, Sam's going on about some kids named Stevie and Sally or something."

"_Stacy_. Stevie and Stacy. They're my brother and sister, and they're your kids too. This is their room, just _look_!"

His mom tiredly peered into the doorway. "Sam, that's just the spare bedroom. It looks just the same as it always does."

Sam looked in and his heart skipped a beat. The room had changed. There were no longer two beds in it - instead a single bed in the middle of the room. The sheets were all in order, and all of the toys and drawings had vanished. Sam wandered inside and looked around. This...looked _nothing _like what he had seen just moments ago. "This isn't right. This was their room, and it was all messed up like something had broken in and stolen them."

His father groaned. "Sam, it's late. You must have had a nightmare or something. You never had any siblings."

Sam shook his head. "Yes I did. And I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to find them." He brushed past his parents and ran downstairs to grab his coat. Ignoring their shouts of him to get back upstairs and go back to sleep, Sam flung open the door and began running down the street.

"STEVIE!" he shouted into the dark and shadowy night. "STACY!" He listened for a reply, but all he could hear was his own voice echoing back to him, and the occasional shout coming from a nearby house for him to quiet down. Sam ran to the park, hoping to find something, _anything_ that would tell him who had taken them and where. But even after what must have been fifteen minutes of running about and calling their names as loud as he could, they were nowhere to be found.

Out of options, Sam collapsed onto the nearby swing set and began to cry. It didn't make any sense. Children don't just disappear with all evidence going with them. Their had to be some way of finding them, but Sam was hopeless at this point. He didn't even notice the figure approaching him.

"It got her too, didn't it?" whispered the familiar voice. "I was afraid of that."

Sam turned his head and saw the Doctor from earlier standing beside the swings. Upon seeing him, he launched himself at the man and tackled him to the ground. The two of them struggled, Sam trying to strike him out of fear and rage and the Doctor dodging the blows. After a minute another person grabbed Sam by the arms and yanked him off.

"Oi! Stop beating up the Doctor!" A woman's voice this time, and a boisterous one too. Sam tore himself out of her grip, but did stop pummeling the other man. The Doctor stumbled to his feet as well, checking to make sure nothing had been knocked out of place.

"You knew this was going to happen!" Sam shouted at the Doctor. "You knew something was going on and you didn't do anything!"

The redhead to Sam's left looked between the two of them. "Is this about the thing with the missing children?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, it is. And I'm so sorry that it happened to your sister, Sam Evans."

Sam looked into the man's eyes. Despite his previous wariness towards the fellow, now he felt that this man was genuinely sorry for his situation. "And my brother" Sam said after a pause. "It got my brother and my sister. Whatever it was. Stevie, uh..." Sam paused to catch his breath. "Stevie said there was a Boogeyman in his closet."

"Boogeyman?" the woman looked at Sam quizzically. "But that's just a fairy tale, isn't it?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, there have been stranger things in the universe. A Boogeyman coming to take children away could explain a lot. Quickly Sam, tell me everything you know about what happened."

Sam didn't even know where to begin. It wasn't like he was an expert on the situation. "Uh...Stevie said the Boogeyman told him he was going to make him and Stacy it's slaves, and then tonight they disappeared. I tried to tell my parents, but they, uh, they didn't remember them? Or something?"

The Doctor nodded again. "Alright, I guess that would explain why there's no panic - nobody can remember their missing children." He whipped out that strange metal device and waved it around a bit before looking at a viewfinder. "Ah, here we go. There's a telepathic barrier around the town that is blocking any memory of the children who are taken away."

Sam stood up. "But I tried ot show my parents their room and it had changed - it wasn't the kids room any more, it was just a spare."

"That is probably a small illusion generator. Best to check it out in person. Come on, let's get to your house."

Sam immediately went off back in the direction of his home, but the Doctor called him back. "Sam - let's take the short route."

He gestured towards a blue box that Sam hadn't noticed before. It looked like a big wooden telephone booth, and had "police box" written on the top. The redheaded woman was entering it, and the Doctor was right behind him. Sam had no idea how going in _there _was a shortcut, but he figured the rest of the night was so weird that he might as well follow them. Quickly he darted over and walked inside.

He expected it to be cramped. It wasn't. In fact, the space he found himself in was easily the size of the entire park itself. A huge console stood in the center of the room covered in buttons and lights and levers and switches. Sam took a step forward, then back. He poked his head outside the doors, then back inside. "Holy sh...it's bigger on the inside!" he shouted. The Doctor just smiled and nodded.

"I know. Bonkers, isn't it?" the redhead beside him asked. Sam looked to her.

"So...you seem to be used to this. I'm Sam Evans." He stuck his hand out, and she shook it.

"Donna Noble. Companion of the Doctor's."

"So what is the deal with this Doctor guy?" Sam asked.

"Well, the usual. Travel through time and space, save the universe, protect the innocent, and run away from dangerous murdering things."

"Huh."

The conversation was interrupted by the entire room shaking, then becoming still again. The Doctor walked towards Sam and Donna and grabbed them, pulling them outside. Sam found that that they were now inside his living room. He turned to Donna. "Time and space?"

"Yep."

The Doctor was already running up the stairs, waving around that buzzing metal stick. The commotion was enough to bring Mr. and Mrs. Evans back into the hallway.

"Sam, I told you to - who are you?!" The Doctor didn't bother introducing himself to Mr. Evans, instead waving the stick at the man and checking the readout.

"Hmm. Under the effects of the telepathic field. Just as I thought. Now then, which way to the twins' room?" He walked off before he could answer, instead following his metal stick. Sam and Donna followed close behind.

"Sam, who are these people?" asked Mrs. Evans.

"They're going to help me find Stevie and Stacy!" It was all Sam could say as they reached the supposed spare room. The Doctor had already moved in and was examining everything. The man frowned, then kicked at seemingly thin air. Except there was a bump, and a square chunk of the room seemed to shift just out of place afterwards.

"Ah! Of course." The Doctor snatched at thin air, except it wasn't thin air - there was something there, a small device that looked like a high-tech donut. "Short-range flash illusion generator. Lasts about a week, or until it's deactivated. By that point I imagine the Boogeyman would expect to be long gone."

Sure enough, after flicking a switch on the generator Sam saw the room twist and reform back into the familiar surrounding that he had put his siblings to bed in. Donna immediately went to the closet.

"Alright, the Boogeyman is said to come out of the closet, right? I don't see anything. No secret tunnels, or teleporters here." She pushed and prodded around, and suddenly there was a loud *thunk*. The entire back of the closet shifted back, then to the side, revealing a long rocky tunnel. Sam and the Doctor both joined her side and looked down it, the Doctor shining the stick down the chasm like a flashlight.

"It's a cave...in my siblings' closet." Sam really had no other words than the obvious.

"It's not just a cave," said the Doctor, "it's a spatial temporal hyperlink."

"So...magic door?" Donner arced an eyebrow towards the Doctor, who could only shrug 'yes' in response.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Sam bolted down the tunnel, leaving the two Brits in the dust.

"Oi, what are you doing? I say let's go!" The Doctor quickly ran after Sam.

"You always say it in bloody French!" Donna followed, leaving the room empty.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans took one look in the bedroom, figured they must still be dreaming, and went back to bed.


	6. The Boogeyman III

**Alright, long chapter is loooooooong. Also, somebody commented that I went from Eleven to Ten between stories. This anthology is meant to be spread out non-linearly across the Doctor's travels, focusing mainly on Ten and Eleven because I know them the best. If I'm able to watch some Nine and older before this ends I'll be sure to include them. Clara probably won't show up because I want to see her with the doctor some more before I write for her - but of course that won't be until April :(**

* * *

Sam ran as fast as his legs could carry him, ignoring the shouts of the Doctor behind him to slow down. He had no idea where he was going, or even where he was for that matter, but he knew that whatever had taken his siblings was down this tunnel and he was determined to find it and make it pay.

Ahead of him a light shone in the distance. It was dim and purple, but Sam went towards it anyways. Soon he reached the end of the tunnel, and that was when he finally stopped and stared at the scene before him. Soon Donna and the Doctor stood behind him and gazed on in shock.

The tunnel opened into a huge cave, easily the size of a football stadium. Multicolored stones of all shapes and sizes jutted out from nearly every wall. Winding throughout the cave and on every level where what looked like train tracks, and running along the tracks in every part of the cave where carts - some empty, some stuffed full of the colored stones.

"It's a mine" Donna said incredulously.

"But where are the miners?" Sam asked. The Doctor gulped, then pointed off into the distance of the mine. Sam squinted, and he saw children - human children, children that he was certain he had seen before in his neighborhood.

Stevie and Stacy where there too.

Sam was about to call to them when the Doctor slapped a hand against his mouth and pointed again. Sam and Donna followed his finger and saw a group of what must have been the Boogeymen that they had followed into this cave. The grey creature was monstrous. It must have ben seven feet tall, with a thick and powerful tree trunk of a body. It stood upon four insectoid legs, splayed out in every direction like a spider. In it's long, clawed arms it held a whip. The alien's head couldn't be seen, as it wore a hood or something over it to conceal it.

The Doctor grabbed Sam and Donna and pulled them backwards into the tunnel.

"Where are we?" Sam asked. "And what are those things?"

"Is it the Racnoss again?"

"No, they're different from Racnoss. But I do know where we are" the Doctor replied.

"Well? Spill!" Donna said anxiously.

"We're on Io."

Sam and Donna exchanged a look of surprise.

"Io?" Sam tried to place the name, but all he could think of was a story he ha read in a Greek mythology book years ago. "Wasn't she a cow?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No, it's the inner moon of Jupiter, though it was named after said cow. Weird moon, though. It doesn't have a molten core like most solid bodies; instead it's got this kind of...well you saw for yourself, it's full of crystals and minerals and the like. These Boogeymen shouldn't even be here though; mining Io's core was deemed illegal a hundred years ago. It was a special article in the Shadow Proclamation."

_Illegal?_ Sam thought. Sure the Earth's government had no authority on Io or it's core, much less was even aware that they could even reach that place. "Who said so?" he asked.

"Well the Ionians, obviously. They abandoned the planet after over-mining nearly caused their race to die out. See Ionian minerals emit slight telekinetic fields. Different kinds have different powers. In small amounts it's not very powerful, but large quantities such as this being mined...most races would only last a few days before their minds literally combusted."

Sam looked back towards the mine, and the small children being forced to dig the rocks out like slaves. "So, Stevie and Stacy..."

The Doctor grabbed Sam's head and turned it back. "No, don't think like that. _Most_ species. Human minds act differently. They won't be effected. It's...probably why the Boogeymen were taking human children. A source of slaves unthreatened by the minerals, growing up working here and knowing nothing but. The perfect source of free labour."

"Wait, is that why none of the parents remembered the kids?" Donna asked excitedly.

"Well..." the doctor shrugged, before pulling out the illusion generator from his pocket. He fiddled with it a bit. "If I could get it open..."

Donna snatched the gizmo and slammed it against the wall, causing it to split down the middle. She handed it back to the doctor.

"I suppose that's one way of doing it" the man replied matter-of-fact-ly. He carefully opened the casing to reveal a lump of what looked like green quartz. "A-ha. This would do it. Leave enough of these in an area long enough and memories become weak. Easily moldable."

Sam took the rock and stared at it. "But why wasn't I affected?"

The Doctor cocked his head to the side to think. "Perhaps it only works on adults? I don't remember seeing any teenagers in your neighborhood." This seemed like a good enough explanation to Sam - he was the only adolescent in the area that he could think of.

"Well, we're going to save them, right?" asked Donna desperately. The Doctor nodded.

"Of course. But how. Those aliens are certainly going to put up a fight. We need to be sneaky."

* * *

Sam hugged against the cave wall as he carefully edged himself towards the group of children. They were all in one area of the mine, some hacking at the walls with sinister-looking picks and others struggling to lift the huge rocks into the mine cart. They were too young for this, he thought. Stevie and Stacy were there too, dragging a hunk of purple quartz. Sam blinked back tears. They were going to be fine, so long as he did his part correctly. He continued moving towards them, eventually ale to position himself behind a stalagmite jutting out of the ground.

"Psst!" he called towards Stacy. She looked around in fear, but when she saw he brother her face lit up. Sam held a finger against his lips to keep her quiet, then motioned for her to come over to him.

"Sammy!" she whispered and hugged him. He hugged her back. "I knew you'd find us!"

"Of course I did. Now, you have to listen very carefully. I came here with a man who's going to help you all get out, but you have to make it look like you're working until I tell you all to run. Got it?"

Stacy nodded excitedly, then snuck back to where Stevie was pulling ore out of the stone columns. She whispered something in his ear, and his expression turned to one of relief, but Sam had to move again before he was spotted by anyone - or anything.

Now he was moving towards one of the hulking Boogeymen. The beast was observing the children from a raised platform, yellow eyes peering out of the cloak over its head and whip in hand poised to strike. Sam snuck up behind it and carefully grabbed one of the picks leaning against the cave wall, raising it up in preparation. Any minute now. Sam's eyes flitted to another platform across from him, where a second Boogeyman stood. There was a slight shimmer in the air, and Sam saw a disembodied hand poke out of nowhere and give him a thumbs up.

With that, Sam swung the pick up and smashed it into the side of the Boogeyman's head. The beast collapsed under the blow, but not before giving out a bellowing cry of pain. The other Boogeyman saw it's fellow slave driver go down and looked in that direction - giving Donna enough time to dart out of the illusion field the Doctor was maintaining and grab the whip out of it's hand.

"Alright Mister! Let's see how you deal with this!" She flung the whip's cord at the beast, and it wrapped around its body and let out an electric shock. The Boogeyman collapsed onto the ground.

"Blimey I killed it!" Donna shrieked.

"It's just stunned!" The Doctor shouted as he grabbed her and dragged her towards the children, who had all stopped working and looked in amazement as they came to the realization that they were being rescued. Sam, too, began to scramble towards them, but something grabbed him and yanked him back. He found himself face-to-face with the Boogeyman he had assaulted - and now that the hood was gone, Sam could see a jumble of eyes and thorns and teeth that vaguely formed a head. The beast roared as it prepared to strike Sam with the whip.

The Doctor was on top of the situation, of course. Sam heard the whiz of his Sonic Screwdriver and soon the whip burst in the Boogeyman's hand. Sam was dropped, and rolled over the ledge, landing hard in front of the kids. Stacy and Stevie rushed over to him to help him up, but he waved them off.

"I'm fine, I'm fine" he protested as he struggled to his feet. Donna was soon by his side, supporting him when he wobbled.

"I hope I'm not all bruised up when I go to work tomorrow" the boy muttered, raising his shirt to see if anything showed. Donna raised an eyebrow.

"Where do you work?" she said with interest.

"Um...I'm seventeen..."

Donna quickly averted her eyes in embarrassment. The Doctor soon caught up to them. "Alright! What's say we get these kids out of here before we get stuffed into a worse closet."

"Um...that may be a problem." Donna pointed, and Sam and the Doctor turned to see the rest of the Boogeyman squadron blocking off the only exit. The children huddled around their saviors for safety.

"Doctor, think of something..." Donna murmured nervously, smacking him on the arm.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" the Doctor replied, eyes looking all over. He pointed at a nearby column. "Sam, give me that blue rock!"

Sam obeyed, grabbing and tugging the stone out of the wall and passing it to the Doctor. He pulled out the illusion generator and yanked the green rock out of the device, stuffing the blue one in it's place and sonicing it. "Everybody close your eyes!" he shouted as he tossed it towards the advancing aliens. The group did, and Sam heard a loud crack and even behind his eyelids saw something bright appear before them. Then they were all scrambling past the Boogeymen, who had covered their faces in pain. Sam, Donna, and the Doctor began loading children into the mine carts before hopping in themselves.

"I wanna ride with Sammy!" Stevie protested.

"Too bad, you're stuck with aunty Donna!" the redhead replied before the Doctor pushed the carts down the track.

It was easily the worst roller coaster ride Sam had ever been on. As the group flew threw the mine towards the exist, Sam glanced back and saw the hoard of grey creatures pursuing them. "Doctor!" he called. "A little faster!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" the man shouted back. "I only have so much horsepower in a screwdriver!"

They reached the exit, but not fast enough. The Boogeymen were too close for comfort. Sam grabbed the first two kids he could and jumped out of the cart, racing down the tunnel. The Doctor followed, dragging as many children as he could, and Donna brought up the rear to ensure nobody got left behind. They could all here the angry cries and pounding claws of the aliens behind them. Sam saw the closet up ahead and practically threw the kids in his arms into the bedroom, staying behind to usher the rest of them in.

Donna came into view clasping Stevie and Stacy in her hands, a Boogeyman right on her tail. Stevie tripped, his hand sliding out of Donna's. She didn't have time to go back for him, the beast was _right there_, and Sam ran to where his brother had fallen and punched the alien right in the face.

Surprisingly, it worked. At least it bought the two Evans boys enough time to race back to the closet. As soon as they were through the Doctor slid the door back in place. A loud crash was heard on the other side of it - the Boogeyman wasn't going to let it's prey away that easily. Quickly the Doctor soniced the door, and soon the banging stopped. Everyone in the room held there breath, but when the Doctor turned around with a smile they all relaxed.

* * *

The rest of the night was spent returning the children to their homes across the neighborhood. Each room held an illusion generator, which the Doctor deactivated and tossed back into the TARDIS. Eventually only Stevie and Stacy remained. Donna tucked them in as Sam talked with the Doctor.

"So those...things won't try to steal any more kids?" he asked.

"Rewired the doorway." The Doctor held up his Screwdriver to testify. "They won't be able to open it or attach it to any other place on the planet."

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. "And the memories of the parents?"

"They won't even notice the kids were gone. Everything will go back to normal."

Stevie popped out of bed and ran up to the two. "Mr. Doctor sir, can I keep this?" Stevie held up a small purple gem from the mine. The Doctor looked at it keenly and shuddered.

"Well...here, Sam." The Doctor tossed the rock to Sam, who caught it and looked into it. Slowly, he saw the room he was in come into view, but from another angle.

"It latches onto the holders home" the Doctor said. "Shows them a picture of it, so that thy know everything is alright."

Sam smiled. "I could definitely use something like this." Stevie went back to his bed and hugged Donna goodbye, and Stacy did the same. With that she stood up ad rejoined the two.

"Well, that was interesting. I suppose we'll be off now?"

Sam held his hand out and the Doctor shook it. "Thanks for all your help Sam. We really couldn't have done it without you."

Sam shook his head. "It's you I should be thanking, Doctor."

Donna and the Doctor walked back into the TARDIS. Before the door shut, Sam called out to them.

"Will I ever see you again?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I certainly hope so. But perhaps under happier circumstances."

With that the door closed, and with a _vworp_ the blue box faded into nothingness. Sam sighed and tossed the rock into the air once. "Doctor who?" he mused to himself.

* * *

"...the next morning all the kids were back in place. None of the parents knew they had ever disappeared. Though a bunch of them did hug me next time we went to the park."

The club was rapt with attention at Sam's story. Mercedes and Brittany had at one point begun to tear up at the mention of his siblings being kidnapped. Sam held out the stone to the group.

"Just like the Doctor said, whenever I look into this stone, I can see my house and the rooms inside. It help when I get homesick."

Sam sat back down beside Mercedes, who wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulder. "Who's next?" he asked.

Brittany raced to the center of the room, dragging Santana along with her.

"Wait, I thought we were doing it in order of seniority?" Mike asked. The two girls smiled and shared a look.

"I was here before the rest of you, so I get to go before you. And besides, me and Brit met the Doctor and the Ponds together."


	7. Follow the Butterflies I

"Brittany, what are you looking at?"

Santana shivered underneath her coat and scarf. Lima might get abnormally hot winters, but that was counteracted by rather cold autumns. Despite it only being October there was a bitter chill in the wind. Santana would much rather be in the warm walls of McKinley than out here trying to get her best friend to stop being so distracted by whatever shiny thing she had seen and come inside.

Brittany didn't hear her, or at least pretended not to. Instead the pretty blond continued to stare at a single spot in the air just above her head, a dazed smile playing across her face. Brittany normally had a dazed smile, though, so it wasn't exactly unusual. But the bell would surely be ringing soon, and though Santana didn't want to drag Brittany inside the school she felt she had no choice. Walking up to her BFF she grabbed her arm.

"But Santana...what about the butterflies?"

Santana looked where Brittany had, but only saw empty air. "I don't see any butterflies, Brit. Besides, it's way to cold for them this time of year. They wouldn't be able to survive the winter."

"Well maybe they're special butterflies."

Santana sighed. "Yeah. Sure, that's probably it. And they'll probably still be there when we get back from class. So let's go, okay?"

Brittany pouted, but nonetheless she followed Santana inside. Though not before waving a tiny goodbye to the butterflies.

* * *

All through class, Brittany could think of nothing but the butterflies. She figured that was a good sign, since normally things like history and algebra stopped her from thinking at all. They were different from other butterflies she had seen. They were bigger, for one, almost as big as her face. And they sparkled, like the stones on her moms jewelry or the glitter glue that she's not supposed to eat. Moments like this made Brittany glad that she carried around a large package of Crayola pencils in her book bag. Mrs. Hagberg was none the wiser to Brittany's antics thanks to the Cheerio's seat at the very back of the class.

Brittany scribbled out three of the butterflies she had seen earlier. There were more, but these three were the ones she could remember best. She decided to give them names as well. There was Herbert, and Jonathan, and Miguel. Brittany decided that they surely must be best friends, just like her and Santana and Quinn. Except they were all boys. And also butterflies. At one point the boy sitting beside her looked over to what she was drawing, but just shook is head in confusion and decided not to ask her about it. Brittany didn't mind though - it was the same look that she got from most people. They just didn't understand her, that was all. Not like Santana. Santana was great to Brittany, and even when she didn't quite understand what Brittany said she still smiled and rolled with it.

Mrs. Hagberg had moved on to something Brittany didn't care about; it was something about the Berlin Whale or whatever. It was old news though; Brittany didn't care about stuff that already happened because it already happened. Why not focus on the present? Or the _future_? _Would there be jetpacks?_

Such thoughts put a strain on Brittany though, and she yawned and turned to look out the window. What she saw surprised her. It was the butterflies! They flitted and fluttered about outside the window. _They must have followed me!_ Brittany thought with excitement. She wanted so dearly to just open the window and hop out after them, but even she knew that it would be rude to the rest of the classroom. Instead Brittany fidgeted in her seat and waited for the bell to ring. As soon as it did she was racing down the halls tow the nearest door, eyes darting all over the school grounds in the hopes that she'd spot that flash of sparkly color once again.

* * *

Santana stared at her phone annoyed. Brittany should have been here by now. They had made plans to go to the Lima Bean every Wednesday for coffee, but even by the second week of school it seemed she had forgotten. At least that what Santana hoped had happened - the idea of something happening to Brittany hit her in a place she rarely felt any emotion. She wouldn't say it was love, god no. But maybe some kind of...compassion? Santana felt protective of her, that was certain. The girl simply didn't know how to take care of herself, and needed somebody to watch out for her.

Maybe she was still under the effects of the anesthesia from the dentist. Regular Brittany was bad enough, but loopy druggy Brittany was a terrifying thought.

Santana had yet to order a coffee, much less get in line. Instead she continued waiting for Brit to text her back, leaning against the wall and listening to the snippets of conversation around her. Beside her she could hear a rather animated one taking place.

" - can't be lost, I've been here before." said one voice - British, if Santana had to place the accent.

"What do you mean?" A woman's voice, most likely from the same location as the first.

"Well I visit London on a regular basis, can't I go to other places too?"

"Well London is a bit of a home base for us. It's amazing how many aliens decide to touch down there." A different male voice, and - aliens? Where these people on drugs or something? Santana was far too cool to be that close to dorks of such magnitude. Figuring that Brittany would show up sooner or later, Santana approached the counter to place her order.

The three british tourists continued their conversation behind her. Santana really didn't care about what they were saying, but their accents made them easier to pick out of the crowd than anybody else.

"Are those...butterflies?"

This caught Santana's attention. She spun around and looked out the window. Sure enough, Brittany was out there.

Holding a butterfly net.

While dodging traffic.

Santana swore under her breath and ran out the door, unaware of the trio following right after her. "Brittany!" Santana called out. The blonde turned andwaved when she saw her friend.

"I found the butterflies!" Brittany called back. She was oblivious to the large garbage truck bearing down on her.

"Bloody hell" she heard a voice say behind her, and turned just in time to see a large-nosed man rush out into the street and grab Brittany, dragging her to the other side and out of harm's way. As the garbage truck passed, Brittany was already running down the sidewalk away from Santana, with the other man chasing after her.

"What the hell is he doing? What butterflies?"

Santana looked back and saw a red-headed woman and a man dressed in a bow tie and suspenders. Such a fashion sense was far too...British for Santana to believe he was anybody other than one of the men she had been eavesdropping on just a few minutes prior.

"I don't know Amy, I never saw any butterflies."

Yep, definitely British. Santana marched over to the duo.

"What the hell are these butterflies you keep talking about and why is my best friend chasing after them like a maniac?"

The two were caught off-guard by Santana's forwardness, but the man quickly extended his hand.

"Hello Ms! Tell me, what do you know of these phantom insects?"

Santana brushed the hand aside bitterly. "Look Michael Caine, I don't give a damn about your poshness. If you know something you best be telling me before I have to shank a bitch."

"Calm down lady, we didn't see any butterflies either." The ginger this time. Amy was she called? "If you want to know anything about what the hell is going on then I suggest we actually try to catch up with those two."

She pointed off in the distance, where Brittany and the other man quickly turned the corner and disappeared from view.

"Shit." Santana murmured and began running after them.

* * *

"Stop! Lady! Slow down!"

Brittany didn't heed the words of her pursuer/rescuer. She was more concerned with catching the butterflies and catching them to play with and ask them what their favorite color was. All those years in Cheerios had paid off, and she was easily able to catch up with the critters as the fluttered through the air, invisible seemingly to all except for her and the British guy behind her. Eventually she reached a dead end in an alleyway, where the butterflies had stopped fleeing and now flitted about in the air at her eye-level.

The man behind her stopped and bent over, resting his hands on his legs as he tried to catch his breath. "What...is going...on? What are those things?"

Brittany approached them, and saw the other man do the same beside her. One of the butterflies floated down and landed on her hand, and another one alighted on the other fellow's shoulder. Even after being exhausted from the run he managed to crack a smile as he gazed upon the glittering wings of the creatures.

Then a bright light descended from the sky and began pulling the two of them upwards.


End file.
